Keep Moving Forward
by quibilah
Summary: When everything in Jenny's life starts to look up what could possibly go wrong? The answer shatters her world in the blink of an eye. Jibbs, Romance, Humor, Tragedy, Suspense, death, family, friends, Read and Review! Sequel to 'Bolt from the Blue'
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I am so sorry for the super long wait for this, but I couldn't come up with anywhere to actually go with it until I watched a video on youtube, that I will post at the END of this story, I really hope you ALL go and watch it. Please do not hate me for the way this chapter turns out and what ever else happens…please read and review!**

**Keep Moving Forward: Chapter 1**

It had been almost two years since Gracie Alexa Shepard entered Jenny's life and since then things just continued to get better and better for her. The team threw her the baby shower they were planning, where Gibbs, after having had Jenny hint to him to propose again, properly this time, decided to do just that. She had pretended to think about it before laughing and kissing him passionately, which got a round of applause and some wolf whistles from the occupants of the party.

They had talked about when their wedding should take place and both had come to the conclusion that they needed to find out who left Gracie on Jenny's doorstep before they could even think about planning a wedding.

A little over three weeks after the proposal did Gibbs and his team get a lead. It turned out that Jenny's old neighbor, the one that had taken her to the hospital when she was having her baby, had been the one to give up the child.

Jenny had talked to him for a few hours and found out exactly why he had given up his only daughter. It turns out that his wife had passed away during child birth and every time he looked at the bundle all he could think about was him refusing to wear a condom when his late wife had asked, her not wanting to get pregnant at the moment. He blamed himself for his wife's death.

He knew that he wouldn't ever be able to get over the feeling of guilt ad anger every time he saw his child and didn't want her to be raised in a household where she wouldn't be loved like she should.

He had thought about giving her up for adoption, but had remembered Jenny and remembered what happened to her child and how heartbroken she was when the doctors couldn't save her, and he _knew_ that she would make an excellent mother who would love his daughter unconditionally.

When he was asked about why he had left her there in a storm he just broke down and said he had no clue, he just had to get away from her before he did something terrible to her, and he didn't want to hurt the only child his wife had had.

Jenny and Gibbs asked him to finalize the adoption and all of the papers they needed just incase anybody came and found out that Gracie wasn't hers and they never actually legally adopted her.

Jenny and Jethro became the parents of one Gracie Alexa Shepard-Gibbs and three months later they became husband and wife.

Jenny cut back on her hours, as did Gibbs, making sure to always be home no later than six, unless Gibbs was in the middle of a case, which happened often, but he made sure to make sure he went home every night.

Gracie was almost two and a half years old and she was keeping her parents busy and insanely happy.

Gibbs had been able to get off work early today and went to meet up with Jenny when he was informed by Cynthia she went home earlier that morning as well, something about needing to get something for Grace.

Deciding to surprise her he went home without calling to letting her know. They had decided her house was more suited for Grace and them to live, although they still had Jethro's house…which one Abby Schuito was living in after begging Gibbs to let her stay there.

Gibbs pulled up to the house and saw Jenny's car was missing, thinking she must have gotten distracted while shopping for Gracie Gibbs walked in and started to make dinner.

He was halfway through pouring the pasta into the strainer when the phone rang. Quickly dumping the remains of the pasta into the strainer and wiping his hands off he made his way to the phone before the machine answered.

"Gibbs?" He answered and he almost froze by what he heard on the other end. It was a voice and order he had not heard in many, many years.

It was that of his old squad leader desert storm before he was switched by a new commanding officer.

"_Gunny, I need you to do one more thing for us and I'm not exactly sure how you're going to take it…"_

?

"Jethro, I'm home! Jethro?" Jenny called as she balanced Grace and four bags filled with goodies for her, plus one filled with stuff for herself and Jethro…if only she could find Jethro...

"Jethro? Honey, you home?" Jenny called again putting down her keys and bags, keeping her hold on her daughter.

"Dada!" Gracie said mimicking her mother.

She had just turned the corner and found him sitting on the couch dressed in his old marine uniform. She went stock still and stared wide eyed at him while Gracie excitedly yelled for her daddy.

Jethro was broken form his revere at the sound of his baby girl calling him. He turned his head and was met with a terrified looking Jenny and an excited Grace clapping her hands while reaching for him at the same time.

"Jen?" Gibbs said rushing over to her and taking Grace from her before she dropped her before grabbing the side of her face gently forcing her to come out of her shock.

"Jen, Jen, look at me!" Gibbs said placing Gracie on the floor so he could get Jenny out of her frozen state.

Doing the only thing he could think of he leaned in and kissed her. For a moment he didn't feel anything, but when he felt her respond to him he pulled back knowing it had worked.

"Jen, you okay?" Gibbs asked not realizing why she was freaking out.

"Why…why are you…uniform…?" Jenny asked having trouble form the words she didn't want to ask but needed to. She was so terrified that he was going to be leaving her that it was making it almost impossible to talk.

Gibbs connected the dots and just pulled her into a fierce hug not letting her go as he explained.

"My commanding officer called a few hours ago, he told me that the two men closet to Saddam Hussein that we captured escaped last year just before their sentence was carried out…" He felt her stiffen and cling to him even tighter. "…its okay, they got 'em back, but they need to go through a new trial…"

"But, then why are you…" Jenny interrupted not understanding why her husband was dressed in his uniform like he was heading out to go fight another war.

"I was on the platoon that captured them the first time around, both me and my partner need to go to Iraq and testify against them…"

"But…" Jenny started, but didn't know what to say other than, "When?" dreading the answer.

Gibbs hugged her tighter before answering. "I had to see you before I left, but I have to leave by seven…"

"That's only thirty minutes from now!" Jenny yelped not letting her grip loose for one second.

"I know, I know, believe me Jen, I…"

"How long?" Gibbs closed his eyes as he felt Jenny hug him as if her life depended on it.

"Six to eight weeks." He felt more than he heard her choke back a sob. "I'm so sorry Jen, I wish I didn't have to go, but I'll be back before our anniversary, and I'll…" Gibbs rushed not wanting to see her cry before he had to leave; he wanted their last few moments to be happy ones.

"Just…just promise me you'll come back to us…" Jenny said as she released her grip somewhat, wanting to spend their last half hour happy together.

"I promise Jen." Gibbs said pulling back and kissing her again trying to put everything they were feeling at the moment into that kiss.

"Daddy!" Grace said tugging on his pant leg wanting to get in on some of the attention.

Gibbs bent down and swept her up before kissing her all over the place despite the squirming giggling child's pleas for help.

Their half hour went by quickly despite Jenny and Jethro's desires for time to for once drag on.

Jenny drove him to the plane station and walked him right up to the plane's boarding dock, having flashed her ID to the people who tried to stop her.

Gibbs turned once more to his wife and daughter before he boarded the plane and dropped his bags before engulfing them in a hug telling them how much he loved them and he couldn't wait till he returned so he could kiss them and hug them all day if he wanted. He would have stayed longer in their embrace had the boarding attendee told him the plane was taking off and he needed to hurry before it left without him.

He squeezed them one more time kissed them both and told them he would see them as soon as he could, and with that he left. Jenny stood there for a moment hugging her daughter looking at where Jethro just disappeared willing him to comeback even though she knew he couldn't.

"Were' daddy goin mommy?" Grace said not knowing where her daddy was going and why they weren't at home in bed while he read her, her bedtime story, it didn't make sense.

"Daddy's going to be gone for a little bit, but don't worry, he'll be back…" Jenny said hugging her tighter to her and turning to walk back to her car. _'You hear that Jethro? You better come home to us!"_ Jenny said to herself, trying not to think about the fact that if these two men had escaped once before, who's to say they couldn't do it again…

?

It had been five weeks since Jethro left for Iraq. Jenny had heard from him every now and then, but being in Iraq, it's a bit hard to always have time and the resources for the same person to contact the same person frequently.

It had been extremely hard not waking up next to Jethro every morning, and not seeing him at work when she would make the short trip from her office to MTAC, or where ever she may have been going.

Ducky had pulled her aside two days after Gibbs had left wanting her to know that if she needed any help at home that he was there for her and Grace, he also made sure she knew that no matter what happened, even if for gods sake something _did_ happen with the prisoners, that Gibbs was a fighter, and he would fight hell and all of it's occupants to be able to see her and his daughter again.

That had helped somewhat, but she still missed him like crazy. Gracie didn't understand why she never saw her father anymore, and every night she would wake up crying calling out for him, it broke Jenny's heart because she wanted to do the same thing.

She wound up setting up Gibbs side of the bed for Gracie making them both feel like Jethro was closer to them.

The six week had come and gone, and when she still hadn't heard from Gibbs she started to get worried, but didn't act just yet, believing they might have been close to a breakthrough, but when the seventh drew on slowly and still no word she called Ducky to hopefully have him relieve some of her fears, he has just finished telling her that he probably broke the computer while trying to get it to work when the doorbell rang.

Jenny, hoping with everything that it was Jethro and he had just wanted to surprise her ran down stairs to answer the door.

She had a huge smile on her face believing it had to be him. She swung the door opened completely before looking at who it was, but as soon as she saw the uniform, the clipboard, and his face expression, her face went deathly pale and she tripped backwards covering her mouth as she started to sob, knowing exactly what this man was going to say.

Her husband was dead.

**A/N: So…? Please don't hate me, I sort of warned you…kind of…please review and let me know what you think, also please don't not read the next chapter because of this one, I'm trying something, just let me know what you think and I'll got from there…Thank you! Please Review!**

**~Quibilah**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm so sorry for not getting this out to you sooner, I told most of you that I would have it out by Monday forgetting that I was going to be in the city for that day, I got a shot yesterday that just made me feel absolutely terrible and that feeling hasn't gone away just yet, but I'm hoping to get this chapter finished and out to you all. Thank you all for the reviews, I can't believe there were so many, it made my week and made me want to get this next chapter done that much faster, so thanks, and here it is, please Review!**

**Keep Moving Forward: Chapter 2**

_**Last Chapter:**_

_Jenny, hoping with everything that it was Jethro and he had just wanted to surprise her ran down stairs to answer the door._

_She had a huge smile on her face believing it had to be him. She swung the door opened completely before looking at who it was, but as soon as she saw the uniform, the clipboard, and his face expression, her face went deathly pale and she tripped backwards covering her mouth as she started to sob, knowing exactly what this man was going to say._

_Her husband was dead._

_**Current Chapter:**_

"Jennifer?" Ducky called as he opened Jenny's door when she herself didn't answer when he knocked.

He was still on the phone when Jenny had run down stairs when someone knocked on her door. He had heard her wailing something about not believing the person that was at the door, about not _wanting_ to believe them. When he heard her start to sob, he hung up his phone and raced over to her house as quickly as he could.

Things just continued to look bad from there, there was no answer at the door, the lights were turned off, and there was no answer when he called out for her.

He quickly searched the kitchen and dinning room and was about to go to the living room when he heard something from her study.

Cautiously he walked over to the partially ajar door and listened for a moment.

His heart broke as he heard her sobbing, but it was so much more than just someone crying over something small, it sounded like someone who lost everything and didn't know what to do.

He gently pushed the door open, not wanting to startle Jenny by the sudden movement.

Steeping in the room, his eyes took in the appearance in front of him. There was Jenny on the couch by the fire place clutching her legs to her chest, head ground into the back of the couch crying her eyes out.

"Jennifer…?" Ducky asked hesitantly. She turned her head to him, her eyes swollen and her cheeks red and wet stared at him before getting off the couch and throwing herself at the man clutching him as if her life depended on it. Ducky just held her tightly wanting to cry himself at seeing someone who he considered to be like his daughter look so…broken and helpless.

"He's gone Ducky!" Jenny said into his chest through a deep sob.

"Jennifer…?" Ducky asked, fear gripping him, there was only two people who Ducky knew Jenny would react like this over, and seeing as one was her daughter, and not a 'he' then the only possibility was Jethro…but what exactly did she mean by 'gone'…?

"He's…oh god Ducky! Jethro's not coming home!" Jenny said while her knees gave out from under her. Ducky supported her and led her back over to the couch she was recently seated at holding her to him, rubbing her back till her sobs lessened.

"Jennifer my dear…what…what happened to Jethro…?" Ducky asked fearing what he was going to hear, and the reaction the question was going to have on Jenny.

"Desk…" was all she said, so Ducky gently released Jenny, who immiditly clutched her knees again, to go over to the desk. There was a manila folder on it which hadn't yet been opened, but the seal was halfway broken.

He looked over to her once again before picking the folder up and going back over to the couch to sit behind her. Breaking the seal completely Ducky opened the folder and was met with the answer to his question.

In bold letters was Jethro's name, and next to it was the three letters no family wanted to see, KIA…

He, needing to know what happened, turned the sheet over to the next one. He read that the two prisoners escaped once again two weeks ago, having help form the outside this time. There was an explosion on the outer walls of the prison, and Leroy Jethro Gibbs ran tot the two prisoners, not wanting them to escape in the flurry of action.

He was met with a group of five men, two of which were killed, presumably by him, before, they believed, he was knocked unconscious by one of them. The two prisoners, plus the three men that had survived escaped, and took Jethro with them as a hostage to escape.

They made it to the back of the prison, when two marines saw them, they quickly aimed a gun at Gibbs' limp form, while three at the marines, one of which was killed on sight to show the other they were not messing around.

The marine reported back to the CO of the mission what had happened Gibbs and hs partner, saying that if they tried to go after them again, Gibbs would die immiditly.

They couldn't let five huge threats walk away however, and followed them a week later.

They kept to the shadows, but the believed the ex-prisoners caught on. They were camped out in front of their hideout, when the building blew up and was little was left intact, which was very little, was engulfed in flames.

They put out the fire as quickly as they could, which was very slow, and stormed the building, hoping to not find Jethro's body, or anything that would suggest he was in the building when it blew.

They however came across nothing but a few teeth right by where the bomb went off. They brought the teeth to their scientist to find see if they could find anything that would help to identify who exactly was in the building when it exploded.

The scientist brought the results back to the CO and delivered the news that the teeth belonged to Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and without a doubt he was by the bomb when it exploded, which was why there was no body.

The fugitives were no where to be found, and have yet to be.

"Oh my…I'm so…I…Jennifer, come here!" Ducky said finally settiling on what to say. He hugged her tightly trying to comfort both himself and her, she swiveled around and hugged him again.

"He broke his promise! He promised me he would come back! He promised!" Jenny shouted as her fist hit him in anger and disbelief. "He promised he would return to us…" She said defeated. "What am I going to do Ducky? I miss him so much!" Jenny said as she hugged him again.

"You just have to keep moving forward, for Gracie, for yourself, for Jethro, he would never want to see you like this, he would want to see you move on, and to be happy, tell Gracie about him and how much he loved her and wished he was still with her. You have to be strong for her Jennifer, as hard as it will be, knoow that I am here for you, and everyone else at NCIS, Jethro is here to, don't you doubt it for one second, he will always look out for you as he always, and he will never let anything happen to Grace, you stay strong and tell her how good her father was, that's what you do, and you do not, do _not_ close yourself off from those who love you, you hear me!" Ducky said pulling her back to look in to her eyes to make sure she heard what he was saying.

"Mmhhmm…" Jenny mumbled shaking her head slowly knowing Ducky was right, but not being able to stop the tears from flowing over the thought of never getting to see her husband again.

Tomorrow she'll take the day off and talk to Gracie about her father. She'll take the rest of the week off to spend with her, knowing the news was going to be hard on both of them.

Ducky told her he would tell the team tomorrow at work, so she didn't have to go through explaining everything again, but he couldn't promise he could keep the team from calling, but he would try.

He cooked dinner for Jeny and Grace before he put Gracie to bed and read a bedtime story with her. He hugged Jenny telling her he would be over tomorrow evening before kissing her forhead and telling her to go to bed and rest.

Jenny was laying in bed trying to hold off the tears that were still threatening her when she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. _'Keep moving forward, one day at a time Jennifer.'_ She thought before exhaustion took over


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, gotta love college! Anyways, this chapter takes a very large turn for Jenny, but is it a good turn, or will it cause her more pain? Read, and let me know what you think**

_**Last Chapter:**_

_Jenny was laying in bed trying to hold off the tears that were still threatening her when she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 'Keep moving forward, one day at a time Jennifer.' She thought before exhaustion took over._

_**Current Chapter:**_

Four months had passed since Jenny received the news of Jethro's death.

Four long months of waiting for him to throw open the door and demand something of her, proving the everyone wrong, four months of expecting to walk out of her office and see him on the floor below her terrorizing his team.

Four months of crying herself to sleep when something would remind her of something her of him, four months of Gracie crying for her father to come home, not old enough to understand death and that her father would never be coming home.

Four months of sympathy from his team, them not understanding all she wanted to do was forget.

Forget them starting their relationship again; forget the pain inflicted not seeing him everyday. Forget her daughter crying for her father, the feeling of rage when Jethro's partner came to her to give his condolences, that all she wanted was to hit him and accuse him for his death, he should have protected his partner!

Forget the feeling of no one next to her when she finally went to bed.

Forget for an hour at least!

She had finally, after Ducky insisting for three weeks, agreed to go out with the team for Christmas. They were all going to Abby's, which was left to her in Gibbs' will.

Jenny had declined for so long because of the pain of going to his old house and not seeing him she was sure would be caused. She didn't feel that she was strong enough, but she knew she needed to start building her barriers again, not the ones she had in public, the one's when someone offered condolences, she smiled and thanked them, she never cried in public, never showed how broken and lost she was.

Those were barriers she had built before she returned to work after receiving the news; she had only slipped a few times.

No, the walls she needed were the ones that would keep the pain from affecting her when she was alone, she needed to get stronger.

Ducky had insisted he pick her and Gracie up. She was going to decline the offer, wanting to be able to leave if it got to much for her, but Ducky silently told her he would take her home id it for to that point, and it would be safer for both her and Grace if she didn't drive in that state.

She was just pulling back Grace's hair when Ducky showed up, they were going to drop Gracie off at the rarely used nanny Jenny had gotten after Jethro died and head to Abby's after.

Quickly finishing Grace's hair she grabbed both their jackets and put Grace's on before doing the same with hers. She had just finished putting on Gracie's hat, gloves, and scarf when Ducky knocked.

"Come in!" She said loudly putting on her own hat, scar, and gloves.

"Ready my dear?" Ducky asked knowing she didn't want to think about her late husband.

"As I'll ever be Ducky." Jenny said taking her daughters hand and a bag of toys and snacks for her. "Ready sweetie?"

"Yup mommy!" Gracie answered as she started pulling her mom towards the door.

"You have the cars eat all set Ducky?"

"While you were getting ready, need a hand?" Ducky asked the women being dragged to the door balancing a bag and Grace's favorite stuffed animal she brought everywhere.

Jenny handed the stuffed bear over to ducky giving him a small smile.

"Mommy!" Grace whined, believing her mother wasn't moving fast enough.

"Okay, okay, we're going, we're going!" Jenny said finally allowing Grace to pull her out of the house and towards Ducky's car.

"You know where Sarah lives Duck?" Jenny asked unsure whether or not Ducky knew where the nannies house was, but at Ducky's nod she decided to try to prepare herself for what was about to come.

"Alright, thank you Sarah, I should be back to get her around nine, call me if you need anything. Bye sweet heart, I'll be back in a few hours alright, I love you." Jenny said hugging and kissing her daughter good bye.

"Bye mommy! I love you!" Gracie said watching her mom walk back to Grandpa Ducky's car.

"Jennifer, are you okay?" Ducky asked when Jenny got back in the car without a word, laid her head against the head rest, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm just not sure…I'm fine, we should go or we're going to be late." Jenny said, only letting her walls slip for a moment before getting them up again.

Ducky sighed deeply before complying. The rest of the drive was spent in silence, Jenny trying to prepare herself, Ducky thinking that he may have pushed too much. Sure Jenny was acting like she was fine, but he knew she was still devastated, even though she wouldn't ever say it. He would keep a close eye on her tonight, making sure she didn't push herself too hard, and any glimpse that she was about to loose it, and he would make an excuse so they had to leave.

Little did he know, he wouldn't need an excuse, an opportunity would arise that demanded Jenny's attention…

**KEEP MOVING FORWARD….**

"Ohhhhh, Jenny! It's so good to see you!" Abby said giving Jenny a bone crushing hug.

"Abs, I saw you yesterday…"

"But that was at work!" Abby cut off.

"Abigail…"

"DUCKY!" Abby shouted jumping from Jenny to Ducky.

"Don't push her." Ducky whispered in Abby's ear.

"I won't, promise!" Abby answered back. "Okay, you two are the last ones here, come one, we're all in the living room." She said leading the way.

"Your turn Ziva!" Tony said, passing a ball to Ziva.

"Pass." Ziva answered, tossing the ball in the air and catching it.

"WHAT! Come on Ziva, I'm dying to know!" Tony begged.

"That is too bad Tony, I used my pass." Ziva said grinning; she knew not answering this question would have Tony stirring, which is EXACTLY why she used her pass.

"It's not that hard Ziva! Best kiss you've had!"

"Tony, did you not just pass yourself?" Ziva asked wearing a mock confused look.

"Yeah…well, that's just because…don't change the subject Ziva!" Tony answered, there was no way he was going to reveal the best kiss he ever had was when they were working together undercover.

"Very well, I will answer if you will." She proposed leaning forward slightly staring at her.

Tony thought about it for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him.

"I was undercover." Tony answered, hoping she would leave it at that.

"As was I." Ziva answered, and for a moment she saw Tony grin widely, before a confused look settled on his features.

"When you were with NCIS or before?" Tony asked almost begging, but all he received was the ever too familiar laugh from Ziva.

"Guys!" Abby said effectively ending the back and forth between Tony and Ziva.

"Hello Jenny, Ducky." Ziva said greeting the two of them with a nod.

"We were just talking about…" Tony started when Ziva cut his sentence off by chucking the ball at him. "ZIVA!"

"TONY!" She shouted back before Tony got the message _'No relationship talk!'_

"Right, uh, hungry anyone?"

It was eight fifteen when Jenny's phone went off. Quietly excusing herself to the kitchen.

"Sarah? Is something wrong, I'm not supposed to be there till nine…" Jenny asked, starting to get a terrible feeling in her gut.

"_Nothings wrong, I was told to tell you that you don't have to pick Grace up…"_

"Excuse me?" Jenny asked fear building quickly.

_"Um…she was just picked up…."_ Sarah said starting to think she had made a mistake somehow.

"Who the hell picked her up?" Jenny's voice was rising now.

The team could hear everything Jenny was saying, and from the sounds of it, it did not sound good…at all.

_"He said he was her father…" _Sarah was not getting the feeling she had definitely done something wrong.

"Her father's dead…! How long ago did he take her?" Jenny said running back to the living room to gather her coat and purse, paying no attention to the rest of the occupants in the room who were all on guard standing and watching her, all she could focus on was if she would be able to find and save her daughter from whoever had taken her.

_"He knew everything about her, and you, and the code you gave me if you sent someone else to pick her up…" _She tried to make sense of it, he knew everything, even the code, it just didn't make any sense. She also had no idea her father was dead, Jenny had never mentioned it, she had just thought he was always busy when Gracie was dropped off.

"He died four months ago; he couldn't have been the one to pick her up!" Jenny shouted, starting to loose control of her emotions. First Jethro dies, then her daughter is picked up from someone claiming to be her father, it was too much!

_"I'm…I…I didn't…I'm so sor…!"_ Sarah started to apologize before Jenny cut her off.

"HOW LONG?" She demanded briskly walking towards the door.

_"Ten minutes tops."_

Jenny slammed the phone shut and was about to make it to the door to leave when Ducky called out to her making her realize she had an audience and he was her ride.

"Someone picked Grace up from Sarah's, he was claiming to be Jethro, he left ten minutes ago, I need to get there, someone has her…I can't loose her Ducky." Jenny said about to break down when Ducky grabbed his coat and keys and ran over to Jenny.

"Not now Jennifer, hold it together!" Ducky said so only she could hear.

He held the door open for her and once she was making her way towards the car, he turned around to the frightened team and told them all to wait for a call to help. They were about to argue, when he walked out of the house effectively ending the teams protests.

**KEEP MOVING FORWARD…**

"Jennifer, we will find her, I promise, but you need to stay home, you are getting in the way…" Ducky said waiting for Jenny to get out of the car and get some much needed rest.

"Ducky, she's my daughter…" Jenny started to protest.

"Which is exactly why you need to sit this one out. Tony's team is working on finding out where she is, I will call you with any hint of news, but _you_ get out and go inside your house.

"…but…Ducky…I…I understand, call me any news, _any_!" Jenny said; knowing Ducky was right, but still not happy with it.

"Go to sleep, I will stop by in the morning, unless anything shows up before that. And Jennifer, we _will_ find her!" Jenny nodded swallowing before leaving the car and heading into her house.

Ducky pulled away when Jenny shut the door behind her and went back to where Tony and his team were trying to find a lead on where Grace was taken.

The second Jenny walked into her home she knew something wasn't right. Besides the fact that she had a feeling someone was in her home, she could hear noises coming from the upstairs.

She heard a giggle that she immediately recognized as Grace's. Scared that the kidnapper was waiting for her before harming Grace, she made sure to keep her presence unknown.

She quickly and quietly made her way up the stairs drawing her weapon on the way to the room the noise was coming from.

She came to a stop outside of her daughter's room. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she jumped around the corner and scanned the area shouting "don't move".

She wasn't expecting what she saw; there was no one in the room except for her daughter. Needing to make sure her daughter was okay; she lowered her gun slightly and walked over to her daughter's bed.

"Hey baby, you okay?" Jenny asked about to give her daughter a hug when she felt someone grab her from behind.

**A/N: So? Let me know what you think, and if I get enough reviews, I will update the next chapter to this before I focus on the next chapter to Second Chances when have another free moment…Thanks for reading^.^**

**~Quibilah**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: WOW, with so many reviews, I had to start the next chapter. I hope you all like this one, I'm thinking maybe one more after this, but it depends on what you guys want and how this one ends, I suppose :D Read and Review**

_**Last Chapter:**_

"_Hey baby, you okay?" Jenny asked about to give her daughter a hug when she felt someone grab her from behind._

_**Current Chapter:**_

Jenny was frozen with fear and shock.

"You shouldn't have let your guard down." The person grabbing her whispered in her ear, making her eyes go wide and fear grace her features.

Gracie looked at the people in front of her and remembered what had happened earlier that day.

**KEEP MOVING FORWARD…..**

Sarah had decided that it being two days before Christmas, she would take Grace to see Santa at the local mall. She had always loved seeing Santa when she was a little kid, and thought it would really make Gracie's day.

"You ready Gracie?" Sarah asked putting the last piece of Grace's winter clothing on.

"SANTA!" Grace shouted back excitedly.

"Okay, lets go, you know what you're going to ask Santa for?" Sarah asked walking Grace out to her car, thankfully she still had the car seat in the back from the kid she was watching this morning.

"Uhmm, but I can't tell you, it's a secret!" She said happily climbing into the car seat and letting Sarah fasten her in.

"Right, it won't come true if you tell anyone, well you tell Santa and he'll see what he can do." And with that Sarah climbed in her seat and pulled out of her driveway heading towards the mall.

It had only taken twenty minutes to get there, and another fifteen minutes before Grace got to sit on Santa's lap, Sarah watched as she whispered in his ear and smiled, she couldn't wait to have her own child.

"Excuse me miss, is that your daughter?" A lady next to her asked, pulling Sarah's attention away from watching Grace to the cashier.

"No…I mean, well, I'm the nanny." Sarah said realizing that it didn't sound good saying she wasn't the kid's mom, but she was watching the kid, she wanted to make sure the lady knew she was watching her, not abducting her.

"Are you going to get a picture for her mother and father?" The girl asked, and Sarah looked at the prices of the packages, then in her wallet before deciding to pick package D.

"You want the two keychain pictures, and one three by five picture for fifteen ninety nine?" The girl asked making sure before she entered everything.

"Yes please." She said waiting to see the picture on the screen by the cashier, choosing a border and cropping everything, she gave a nod signaling it was great. She was about to give the money over when the lady asked if she wanted a stuffed Christmas dog for the kid.

Seeing the dog with a Santa hat on and mittens on its paws, she couldn't refuse and pulled out the extra bills.

Waiting for the pictures to print and the cashier to put the keychain pictures into key chains, Sarah text Jenny to let her know she had a Christmas surprise for her when she came to get Gracie later that evening.

"Here you are miss, have a Merry Christmas." The saleslady said with a bit too cheery of a smile.

Sarah turned around to see Grace walking over to her carrying her bear and a huge smile on her face. When she got to her, Grace just smiled and asked if they could go back home, saying she was tired.

**KEEP MOVING FORWARD…**

Grace had just sat on Santa's lap when a camera flashed. She looked towards the light and saw the big camera in front of her. She smiled big for another picture before something attracted her attention.

"Gracie?" Gibbs asked when he saw Sarah was distracted with the cashier. He had just gotten back home when he wanted to get Jenny and Grace a 'I'm sorry I've been gone so long, won't happen again, missed you, and love you.' Gift when he walked past the Santa and Me picture station. He stopped when he thought he saw his daughter and a women waiting in line about to go up. He looked closer and knew it was his daughter, and from that moment a plan formulated in his head.

Gibbs saw Gracie look at him and he walked towards her as Grace Jumped off Santa's lap and ran towards him.

"Daddy?" Grace asked not believing her wish had been granted so fast.

"Daddy!" She said excitedly running to her father.

"Hi daddy! I missed you! I love you!" She said when Gibbs picked her up and hugged her to him tightly wanting to never let go again.

"I love you and missed you to sweetheart; daddy's not going anywhere ever again." Gibbs promised before whispering in her ear.

"I want to surprise mommy, but I need you to go back to your nanny and don't mention anything about me okay? I'm going to come get you very soon from her house, but don't act excited to see me, okay sweetheart, can you do that for me honey?" Gibbs asked knowing he was playing a mean trick on Jenny, but couldn't help it, it was in his nature.

"Okay daddy, I'll go home now, see you soon daddy, I love you!" Grace said walking back over to where Santa was.

"Thank you Santa!" Gracie said walking over to Sarah.

"Can we go home now, I'm sleepy."

They had been back to her house for less than fifteen minutes when a knock distracted her from her gathering the games littering the floor.

"Hello?" Sarah asked having never seen the guy on her doorstep before.

"Hi, I'm Jenny's husband; I'm here to pick Grace up." Gibbs said wondering if this woman was qualified to be watching his baby girl.

"What's your name?"

"Jethro Gibbs."

"What's the code Jenny gave you?" Sarah asked making sure this man was in fact Jenny's husband.

Gibbs thought for a moment before giving an answer, it's the same one they used for everything, the date of when Gracie had showed up on her doorstep with the date of her and his wedding.

Sarah thought for a moment before telling him to come on in, that Grace had just fallen asleep.

"Thank you Sarah, and can you give Jen a call and let her know she doesn't need to come and get her, I forgot my cell at the house.

"Will do, have a Merry Christmas Mr. Gibbs." Sarah waved before going in and calling Jenny.

**KEEP MOVING FORWARD….**

Jenny couldn't not believe it, she must be going crazy, she had to be, there was no way this could be happening, Jethro was dead, so how could she possibly be hearing his voice in her ear right now.

Slowly turning around she came face to face with whom she had thought was dead.

"…But…oh my god!" Jenny said breaking down crying, but for the first time in months, she was crying with joy. Her husband was alive!

"Hey Jen…" Gibbs said sadly watching this woman before him crying because he had been presumed dead and now here he was standing in front of her.

"Oh god Jethro!" Jenny said before hugging him and tightly as she could not ever wanting to let go. "I love you so much!" She said with a sob.

"I love you to Jenny, and I promise you, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I missed you two so much." Gibbs revealed kissing Jenny's head.

"But…I don't understand…they said…they said you were dead…?" Jenny said pulling back slightly to look at her husband.

"Shhh, not now, I missed you two too much to talk about it right now." Gibbs said not wanting to upset her anymore at the moment.

"Tomorrow." Jenny said before Jethro pulled Jenny over to Grace's new big girl bed so she could hug both his wife and his daughter.

**A/N: SO? I know it's short, but I will be doing one more chapter, unless someone really wants something to happen and I'll see if I can fit it in somewhere. Please review and let me know what you thought**

**ALSO! If you want to see the video that gave me the inspiration to write this sequel, go to 'youtube', and type in 'Surprise Military Homecomings'. Gracie's reaction is the one that shows the little girl sitting on Santa's lab, it's the age Grace is and its how I pictured her, only with red hair. Jenny's reaction…well there's a bunch that would fit, just make sure you choose the ten minute video! Please check it out, it's a moving video and the song is amazing!**

**~Quibilah**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am soo sorry for the long delay in updating, but school has been hectic with finals and reports and exams, ugh! Thank goodness for a three week winter break, a plus for college there. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, it will be the last unless someone(s) really wants something else to happen in a sequel or something, and I may just be persuaded to give it. So, without further ado, the final chapter, thank you all who stuck with me**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

_**Last Chapter:**_

_"Hey Jen…" Gibbs said sadly watching this woman before him crying because he had been presumed dead and now here he was standing in front of her._

_"Oh god Jethro!" Jenny said before hugging him and tightly as she could not ever wanting to let go. "I love you so much!" She said with a sob._

_"I love you to Jenny, and I promise you, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I missed you two so much." Gibbs revealed kissing Jenny's head._

_"But…I don't understand…they said…they said you were dead…?" Jenny said pulling back slightly to look at her husband._

_"Shhh, not now, I missed you two too much to talk about it right now." Gibbs said not wanting to upset her anymore at the moment._

_"Tomorrow." Jenny said before Jethro pulled Jenny over to Grace's new big girl bed so she could hug both his wife and his daughter._

_**Current Chapter:**_

They had spent the night just wrapped in each others arms, feeling that if they lost contact, for only a moment, the other would disappear and it would go back to just them.

Gibbs had woken ten minutes ago and watched his wife sleep, he decided now was as good as time as any to notice the differences since he had last seen her.

Her hair was a few inches longer, she had lost a lot of weight, and from the shape she had been before, any amount of weight was a lot. There were dark circles under her eyes, circles he hadn't noticed the night before. Make-up, she must be trying to cover them with make-up, he thought and it made him feel that much worse over having been gone so long, even if it wasn't really his fault.

He saw the withered lines on her face from months of sadness; he knew those features all to well. Yet, at the same time, she looked content, happy even as she slept. If nothing else, that was able to bring a smile to his face.

He took his fingers and brushed her hair out of her face gently and noticed how she started to stir slightly.

"Good morning." Gibbs said running his fingers through her hair as she came back to reality.

Jenny opened and closed her eyes again, clamping them shut and clenching her jaw, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

"Jen? Jen, you okay?" Gibbs asked worried as he applied pressure to the back of her head to bring it out from burrowing further into his chest.

Jenny slowly opened her eyes as if she thought he would disappear when reality set in, like so many other mornings.

"Hey, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." Gibbs said bringing his head down to capture her lips in a kiss that made Jenny believe he was really there, this was real, not another one of her delusions, it wasn't a dream last night, her husband was really home, and he was alive!

With this knowledge she threw herself into the kiss, desperately wanting to feel him, to truly make it a reality. She had been without him for so long under the assumption he was dead, and yet, here he was lying next to her, holding her to him.

"God, Jethro, I thought…I thought everything last night was a dream, and that when I woke up I would be alone again. Promise me you won't leave me and Grace again, I don't think I could go through that again…" She admitted weakness.

The only two people who could ever destroy her by hardly lifting a finger were before her, her daughter in the room down the hall, and her husband, lying with her in her bed.

"Never again Jen." He said kissing her again. It was just becoming very heated when they heard the door open slight and they turned their heads towards it to see Gracie standing there clutching her teddy to her chest.

Her eyes widened as soon as she saw her father in the bed and she ran full pelt towards it, throwing herself on it and between her mother and father. They laughed slightly before hugging her tightly to them, as well each other.

They were finally a family again.

…**..EPILOUGE…**

"Jethro, I still don't understand, I read the report the day it was delivered to dear Jennifer…how?" Ducky asked sitting with the team in the Gibbs family room.

"Well, Duck, all I can say is, they thought it was better to keep me alive. I was in the room where the bomb went off, but it wasn't me that the bomb was strapped to. It was my teeth however…" He said showing the number of missing teeth from the back of his mouth.

"They certainly know how to throw a punch. I was unconscious when the explosion happened so I didn't know how we got to the new location, but I'm assuming it had been being planned for quite awhile.

"I was woken by water being thrown at me and noticed I was in a different room then before, then remembered the man that had come into the room in what looked like a full body explosive suit.

"I assumed I'd been moved for some reason, but didn't know I was taken as KIA. They wanted information on how to best attack NCIS and throw a large scale attack on the NCIS organization.

"Something about us having interfered with their plans to many times." He smiled a lopsided grin as he said this and notice Jen's smile across her face as well as the teams faces.

"Hell yeah! That's what I like to hear!" Tony shouted as he high fived Ziva hard, but she was expecting it and threw her hand just as hard as him, needless to say, Tony took more damage than Ziva had.

"God Zeevva, it's called a high five, not a throw everything you've got to injure the person!" Tony said nursing his wrist.

"My apologies, I didn't realize it would hurt you so much." She said grinning wickedly. At that Tony's face took on a shocked face as his hand dropped away from his wrist as if it was burned.

"You didn't _hurt_ me; I was just letting you know so you don't hurt McGeek when he goes to high five you in the future."

"Sure you were Tony…"

"Sure you were DiNozzo..."

"Yeah, Okay, Tony…"

"Whatever DiNozzo…"

"Anthony, when will you learn…?"

He couldn't believe it; everyone in the room had turned on him, all saying something against him at the exact same time.

"Ouch!" Tony said glaring at all of them.

"It's okay my little hairy butt, I'll protect you." Ziva said grinning again as she pinched Tony's cheek before slapping it.

"I'm sure you will Ziva…" Gibbs quipped followed by Abby's…

"We don't doubt it…" to be chased by Jenny's…

"You'll protect him _very_ well…" At which Ziva's face went a few shades brighter and she gave a slight cough.

"Yes, well, as fun as this is putting these two in a most uncomfortable position, I would like to know how you escaped Jethro, and _why_ you thought it was a good idea to pretend to kidnap Grace…"

"I would like to know the answer to that as well Ducky, Jethro?" Jenny asked turning an expecting glare on her husband.

"Hey now, I was planning on surprising Jen, which I _did_!" He defended. "As for the escaping, I just waited until their guard slipped enough and I had enough strength to escape…"

"Enough strength?" Abby asked.

"Well, I'll just say, they like torture; it's a sport for them over there. But, I was able to break through their guard and ran from the camp. I was out there for a week or so until I was able to find our camp and from there I told them where to find the cell, and asked if I could leave to come home."

"A call would have been nice." Jenny said crossing her arms, mock annoyance at her husbands actions of _not_ informing her, and _not_ telling her when he returned and pretending to _kidnap_ her daughter…maybe it wasn't all acting, she was a bit annoyed with him, yet, she wasn't mad, she was too happy to have him home.

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been as much fun." He quipped poking her in the ribs before kissing her.

"Get a room!" Tony shouted only to hear a muffled _'Because it works so well in keeping yours and Ziva's actions quiet.'_

Tony and Ziva both blanched slightly before turning a bright shade of red. Abby was sporting a huge grin and clapping.

"The family's whole, and I sense more to come in the near future!" Abby squealed turning and hugging McGee with the Jenny, Gibbs, Ziva and Tony starring at her not believing what she was insinuating about them.

"Well, I'm not opposed to it." Jenny said grinning as she saw the look of shock and happiness of her husbands face.

"Merry Christmas to me." Gibbs said before kissing his wife's laughing lips. Babies, mean practice, lots, and _lots_ of practice. Was all he though as the team started to fight over who got to open presents first, in which Gracie and Tony had a face off, before she clearly won sticking her tongue out at him as she plopped onto the ground and started to open her first present out of many.

**A/N: So? I thought it was a nice ending, a bit cheesy, but thought that if this actually happened then everyone would be giddy with his return, as well as it being Christmas…and since Christmas is tomorrow, thought it was only that much better of an ending…but enough about my thoughts, what did you think about it?**


End file.
